Nintendo reveals WiiWare launch List

by Candace Savino { May 10th 2008 at 2:30PM }

The North American WiiWare launch is almost upon us, and instead of the stealth releases that we thought were coming, Nintendo's press release of WiiWare games debuting this Monday (along with their point values) was recently leaked. While we can't be sure this list is 100% valid, it looks like we can expect the following:

Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points
Pop -- 700 Wii Points
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points
TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points
LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points

Although we're disappointed by the lack of Dr. Mario, this looks like a pretty solid launch list to us. It'll be difficult to pick and choose exactly which titles we want, but there are definitely some that stand out more than others.

How about you? Do you plan on downloading any of the above, or are you going to wait for impressions and reviews first?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: crystal-chronicles, defend-your-castle, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles, frontier, gameloft, high-voltage, high-voltage-software, lostwinds, my-life-as-a-king, nnooo, pop, square-enix, tv-show-king, vip-casino-blackjack, xgen, xgen-studios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Metayoshi @ May 10th 2008 3:01PM

I'm waiting for Lit to come out actually. That's the only one I'm really interested in.

Michael Beck @ May 10th 2008 3:04PM

I'm not going to knock anyone who will flock to WiiWare and love it, I just feel like it's a little too "gimmicky" for me.

I'd rather keep spending my points on VC releases, thank you.

Sonic_13 @ May 10th 2008 3:32PM

Gimmicky? How is it gimmicky?

Michael Beck @ May 10th 2008 3:51PM

It's gimmicky because once the fan fare dies down over this new feature release, I would feel like I was left with nothing but a handful of flash-like games I could have been playing for free if I'd waited another month for a knock-off to be made.

This why I'm personally not hip to WiiWare, and heck, I am probably so far in the minority it's not even funny.

I'm cool with that, and it's cool that everyone else is pumped over WiiWare. I'll just hang back and let my friends invest in these games, and then try them out at their house.

"Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum,
What might be right for you, may not be right for some."

Julien @ May 11th 2008 11:45PM

Why do you feel the need to explain that much?
There are titles like lostwinds and CC that makes me happy in advance. I don't think those titles could've come out on the PC, I'm sorry. Especially LW.

SoshiKitai @ May 12th 2008 12:33AM

"Why do you feel the need to explain that much?"

Because Sonic_13 asked. That simple. :P

Mr Khan @ May 10th 2008 3:06PM

If Lost Winds continues to look as awesome as it has looked, i'll probably give it a whirl

Though i haven't even gotten around to downloading Everybody's Nintendo channel yet...

Sonic_13 @ May 10th 2008 3:10PM

Dang it! I really want Dr. Mario!

I hope it comes out soon. I don't want to have to wait too long!

I probably won't be downloading any of the above titles. Not because I think they are bad games but simply because they aren't my type of games.

Jay @ May 10th 2008 3:12PM

I hear ya...I just added 1000 points last night so I could just turn the thing on and download the good Doctor on Monday morning. Now I'm sad

ECG @ May 10th 2008 3:14PM

I'll see how the reviews are first. Why no Gyrostarr? That game looked promising.

Donald @ May 10th 2008 3:16PM

Waiting for Dr. Mario and Pokemon Ranch here.

ECG @ May 10th 2008 3:17PM

Is their really any reason to get that game unless you want a Mew?

Sora267 @ May 10th 2008 3:21PM

I concur with Donald.

Mr Khan @ May 10th 2008 3:35PM

I'm tempted to get it to show off my shiny pokemon, but i can't bring myself to pay for a game that doesn't do anything

Unless that game's electroplankton

PtacekAttack @ May 10th 2008 4:12PM

You can use it like pokemon box for the GCN! (thats why I'm getting it)

ECG @ May 10th 2008 4:18PM

Do you really have that many Pokemon that they don't fit in your game?

Roto13 @ May 10th 2008 5:46PM

"You can use it like pokemon box for the GCN! (thats why I'm getting it)"

You can?! Now I'll be able to restart Pearl!

Roto13 @ May 10th 2008 7:07PM

According to a GameFAQs thread by a guy playing the Japanese version, you can only transfer Pokemon back to the save file you originally transferred them from.

So screw that crap.

Bowl of Snakes @ May 10th 2008 3:21PM

I'm interested in the Final Fantasy, but all the nickel and diming with the DLC makes me not want to support it

Roto13 @ May 10th 2008 5:47PM

Yeah, me too. I'd definitely pick it up if it wasn't so overpriced/a complete game.

Joshua @ May 10th 2008 3:23PM

American (and Europe, inevitably) once again gets screwed over.

TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 10th 2008 3:36PM

Well, I think the only reason Japan got so many titles is because they only get new titles monthly.
We get new releases every week, so it's kind of fair.

FantomRedux @ May 10th 2008 7:57PM

Its not really fair if they get good WiiWare games, but we get the bad stuff AND get shafted on disc releases. Theres too much shovelware!

Blue_Falcon @ May 10th 2008 3:26PM

I'm interested in basically everything but TV Show King and VIP Casino: Blackjack. Maybe a no on Pop, too. I'm not sure what in the game could make it go for $7, but I can always wait to see reviews.

Anyway, I'm happy Dr. Mario and Pokemon Ranch didn't make the launch, because it gives some of the other devs a chance to get some sales in, rather than everyone jumping on what Nintendo's offering.

Especially LostWinds, since that is a must.

TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 10th 2008 3:42PM

Defend Your Castle is the only one that I would buy, but you could also not spend $5 and play the web version if you have the Internet Channel(Well, wasn't $5 before...).

TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 10th 2008 3:47PM

Though, Im not very sure about thus list cause even the Nintendo Channel's video says it's a launch day release... =\

TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 10th 2008 6:19PM

By the launch game I mean Dr. Mario Online RX

vidGuy @ May 10th 2008 3:45PM

"Do you plan on downloading any of the above?" - Not until Nintendo allows for storage via USB media.

flameofdoom666 @ May 10th 2008 3:52PM

Cutting your nose off, to spite your face?

vidGuy @ May 10th 2008 4:21PM

Actually, it's a practical matter. I'm not really that excited about any of these titles, but if I start downloading them I'll be likely to get several. That means more Wii Points spent and less of my precious space to store other stuff. That double whammy will keep me from buying WiiWare titles until I can at least bump them over to an external hard disk or thumb drive.

Deozaan @ May 10th 2008 10:36PM

Put it on your SD card. Then plug your SD card into your computer. Then transfer the files from your SD card onto your computer's hard drive.

Voila! Backup!

You can even put these files on a USB drive if you want.

buckyboy28 @ May 10th 2008 4:05PM

Am I going to be the only one purchasing TV Show King? I think that it's going to be pretty awesome.

Waffala @ May 11th 2008 1:38AM

I haven't ever even heard of that game until this post.

JKAntwon @ May 10th 2008 4:18PM

i am only excited about Pokemon, and Dr Mario... This launch list disappointed me.

Matthew @ May 10th 2008 4:39PM

I see Wiiware as a good avenue for small developers to take a risk and produce for the Wii. If they have a cheap successful title hopefully they will look into full scale for something grander. Now as for already established companies like Square Enix (Did I spell it wrong?) this is simply a cash in opportunity. I'm completely disgusted at having to spend for mindless upgrades, or even critical upgrades. I'm sure you can play the game and enjoy w/o spending but to have such an option is a disaster. Furthermore, for many many companies how probably have talent and area afraid to spend the money and develop something meanigful, they will use Wiiware as a platform to cash in on quick and useless games. Just like how there are tons of crappy Wii party games (Carnival Games) Wiiware will soon become flooded with it. UNLESS, Nintendo takes a step back and says don't reproduce junk like this (which I doubt). Sigh* even though Wiiware is not out, I'm ready to give it a grade. 7/10 and the score is mainly for the potential even though it will probably never be met.

RD @ May 10th 2008 4:53PM

Or, download them all for about the same price as one retail game...

Matthew @ May 10th 2008 4:58PM

I'm kind of exciting for Final Fantasy, after watching some vids I see potential for growth in the storyline. Once again, I hate the idea for additional costs, it'd be nice to be rewarded with the option of new armor or clothes through say resource collection. Personally, I'm a armor, clothing type bitch, I'll end up experimenting, it'll cost me and Ill be furious... a Wiimote into the TV is upon the horizon =(

Macroy @ May 10th 2008 5:10PM

Hey, now I can buy something for 700 points and have 0 points left in my account!

Shogan @ May 10th 2008 6:00PM

I only want Pokemon Ranch, and I only want that for the Pokemon Box features. Anything else, I'm seriously waiting for reviews. Even then, I doubt there's much that'll interest me. I like the Wii for the VC, and space is too limited.

MidnightScott @ May 10th 2008 7:11PM

I'm probably gonna get LostWinds.

Webslinger @ May 10th 2008 9:16PM

anyone know how much mem these will be
thats a prob for me

Sisyphus @ May 10th 2008 9:34PM

I'm very interested in Lost Winds and Defend Your Castle, but I'll probably wait a day to hear some reviews first.

Sisyphus @ May 10th 2008 9:36PM

Oh, and TV Show King could be a nice cheap trivia game I could play with others.

sgrmba @ May 10th 2008 9:40PM

Pop and Lost Wind have my interest peaked. Also, X-Play has interviewed developers and previewed several games that are coming out via WiiWare that I am waiting on. Top of the list: Strong Bad's cool game for attractive people and World of Goo. Now, if they would make their comment about addressing storage space a quick reality. I mean they must have been working on additional storage knowing that WiiWare is part of their strategy for continued success.

Deozaan @ May 10th 2008 10:35PM

Final Fantasy is about 160 blocks of memory, if I remember correctly. I'd probably get it if the entire game was $15. As it is, I don't like the idea of buying 1/4 of a game for $15.

TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 10th 2008 10:38PM

Is the DLC just horse armor or houses and crystals?

Deozaan @ May 10th 2008 11:48PM

DLC is required if you want all four races in the game. You only have Clavats without paying more money. It's something like $5 for Selkies, Yukes, and Lilties.

That's $5 each. So $30 total just to get all 4 races. And that doesn't include any "horse armor" costumes.